Sew magic

Megan Yost, 24, pierced the flannel with needle and thread, stitching a small patch to a tear in the sleeve of a hand-me-down shirt that was older than her. The shirt had been her dad’s, she loved its time-softened fabric and roomy feel. She hoped the patch could become a story about the shirt, and allow her to keep it in use a while longer.

The repair was a demonstration in a textile care and garment repair class Yost designed and offered through the Western Colorado University’s Center for Learning and Innovation, which provides hands-on experiences for students and community members. The class is the latest iteration of a loose network of people and organizations aiming to extend the life of clothing and textiles in Gunnison through donation, consignment and repair.

Yost, a graduate student in Western’s Master of Environmental Management program, said she is happy to repair garments for others, but would rather empower people by passing along her skills.

“I love the overlap between environmental stewardship and care, recreation and creativity,” Yost said.

Though more textile waste is diverted to recycling and other more sustainable forms of disposal than ever before, the vast majority of clothing, shoes, towels, sheets and pillowcases thrown away in the United States end up in landfills. The tonnage has ballooned since the 1980s with the explosion of fast fashion brands like Shein, H&M and Zara.

Six Points Thrift Store manager Anita Halpern was not surprised. She said the volume of donations, particularly “throw away brands,” has steadily increased each year. Yost and others in Gunnison said they would like to see the effects of fast fashion slowed down.

“Since we have so many outdoor resources and places to go, the folks here value the environment maybe more than other areas because we spend so much time out there as a community,” said Michael Tobiassen, owner and manager of All Sports Replay, a store in Gunnison that specializes in outdoor mountain sports and consignment.

Local opportunities are plentiful to keep older clothing and textile waste out of the landfill. Residents can donate or consign gently used, clean clothing, or buy someone else’s at Six Points, through Western’s FreeCycle program or at one of the several consignment stores such as Boom-a-Rang. Those shops keep the items for a period of time before moving them along.

Six Points Thrift Store accepts donations from individuals, FreeCycle and businesses around town, such as OffCenter Printing and Walmart. What doesn’t sell at Six Points goes to another nonprofit thrift store in Cañon City, New Horizons, which offers the clothes in its own shop and then recycles what doesn’t sell.

“The aim is for it to continue recycling after it’s left us,” said Six Points employee Kyle Flannigan.

All Sports Replay uses a similar process as a way to reduce waste from technical clothing and gear, which may include synthetic materials and additives like waterproofing that may not biodegrade well in a landfill. The business moves along clothing that has not sold after roughly three months.

“We try to put it into a new pond so it has that chance for new eyes … allowing those garments to get as far through their life cycle as possible,” Tobiassen said.

Buying used clothing can also stretch a wardrobe budget. Whether it’s lifestyle or technical clothing, most mountain sports require expensive gear, said Tobiassen. All Sports offers discounted prices, as well as a wide range of items, like tapes, buckles, cords, sprays and washes, for repairing and refreshing technical garments. Some repairs are simple and Tobiassen is happy to offer advice to customers, but other repairs might need more expertise.

When clothing is in tatters and cannot be donated or consigned, Allison Sinkewich will take it. Sinkewich does a lot of repair work for others, but also teaches people how to use their own sewing machines and offers classes in different fiber skills at her shop. She even visited Lake Preschool and Kindergarten to show students how to make hats from old sweater sleeves.

“There’s really no end to a thing’s life. Even when it’s completely worn to nothing,” said Sinkewich, who opened Subversive Stitches Sew Shop on Main Street last May. Sinkewich unravels old sweaters to reclaim yarn and makes patchwork dresses out of small bits of fabric, among other creative reuses of cast offs. “We have plenty here and if we just source what we have, I feel like that’s what we should be doing.”

Buying used can also be an exercise in creativity. Artists frequent free bins around town for old clothes and scraps for inexpensive raw material, like reclaimed fabric from a pair of old pants or skirt. One afternoon, Halpern stopped Jan Scheefer, a frequent Six Points shopper, to ask her to show off her hat. Scheefer was wearing a hat that had once been a skirt she bought from Six Points, and a Polo shirt.

“A sewing machine is a great thing,” she said.

Six Points provides free material for school teachers and participated in past summer experiences where students in kindergarten through 12th grade came into the shop, found clothes and learned sewing skills they used to transform them into new creations, Halpern said. These lessons help students maintain a reuse-mindset in the community, she said.

Yost said she sees clothing repair and reuse as a creative way to care for the environment that both tells a story and can foster community. A beautiful patch or some creative embroidery over a tear can spark a conversation.

“It’s extending the lifespan, telling a story and building community around this,” Yost said.

Yost said she believes Gunnison is the kind of place where people take time to care for their clothing, and could support a makerspace for fiber artists, artisans and teachers. Residents could come to ask questions, learn new skills and shop more sustainably. In short, she envisions a place where all of the community tendrils that work the magic of breathing new life into clothing and textiles could come together.

(Johnelle Lamarque is a copyeditor, cultural anthropologist and novice sewing magician living her best life in Gunnison this academic year.)